The New Campus Anti-Rape Movement: Internet Activism and Social Justice

by Caroline Heldman, Alissa R. Ackerman, Ian Breckenridge-Jackson

Overview

After 40 years of activists working to reduce sexual violence on college campuses, in 2014, the new Campus Anti-Rape Movement (CARM) finally put this issue on the national policy agenda. President Barack Obama credited “an inspiring wave of student-led activism” for catapulting campus rape into public consciousness. This book positions the new CARM within a long history of anti-sexual violence activism in the U.S. The authors describe the major events of this new movement and how it coalesced. The authors also analyze the new CARM through a social movement lens, and examine the role of new laws and social media in facilitating movement successes. The book argues that the new CARM laid the groundwork for the emergence of #MeToo, the highest profile campaign against sexual harassment/violence to date in U.S. history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781498554039
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	05/23/2019
Pages:	230
Product dimensions:	6.05(w) x 8.67(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

Caroline Heldman is associate professor of politics at Occidental College and the research director for the Geena Davis Institute for Gender in Media.

Alissa R. Ackerman is assistant professor in the Division of Politics, Administration, and Justice at California State University, Fullerton.

Ian Breckenridge-Jackson is lecturer in the Sociology Department at California State University, Los Angeles.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: “I Said Nothing”: Sexual Violence on Campus

Chapter 2: Women of Color Leading the Way: A History of Anti-Sexual Violence Activism

Chapter 3: “Silence Has the Rusty Taste of Shame”: The New Campus Anti-Rape Movement

Chapter 4: “You’re Not Doing Enough”: The Shifting Legal Landscape

Chapter 5: “Going Public”: The Shifting Technological Landscape

Chapter 6: “Women Should Avoid Dressing Like Sluts”: Campus Rape Prevention Programs

Chapter 7: “Let’s Change the Culture”: The Future of the Campus Anti-Rape Movement

Editorial Reviews

This text is what is missing from the national discussion about campus sexual assault. Expertly researched and contextualizing compelling anecdotal accounts with larger trends, in particular, Internet activism and social justice movements, it will undoubtedly transcend the academic audience and become a classic primer for all who study this issue, advocate against sexual and gender violence, and seek to improve societal responses to sexual assault and harassment.

Christina Mancini

This timely book offers an intersectional analysis of one of the most significant social movements in our time:campus anti-sexual assaultactivism. The authors provide an important resource for scholars and activists who work on sexual assault and harassment, historicizing the campus anti-rape movement within a history of struggle for gender justice. The authors contribute to shifting the burden of shame to where it belongs: on the immediate perpetrators of sexual assault as well as those whose silence makes them complicit in the harm being done to others.This book is a useful primer for those committed to ensuring that our college campuses are safe and equitable learning environments.

Kimberly Theidon

An engaging and intelligent book, The New Campus Anti-Rape Movement: Internet Activism and Social Justice by Heldman, Ackerman, and Breckenridge-Jackson, lays out a history of activism around sexual violence on campus, provides an insightful analysis, and offers a road-map forward.The New Campus Anti-Rape Movement should be required reading by all those who claim—or would like to claim—expertise on campus sexual violence and it should also be read by everyone who cares about the profound injustice of campus rape.

Jennifer J. Freyd

While several scholars have written about this movement, the authors of The New Campus Anti-Rape Movement provide the most comprehensive recounting of its events, individuals, and related laws and policies.. .. The book’s empirical contribution.. . is important and valuable. As a reference to the mobilization, events, and changes around campus sexual assault, it is indispensable. Clearly written, with a straightforward organization, the book will be a useful handbook for activists and academics researching questions of sexual violence and activism on college campuses. Indeed, all faculty and students are likely to encounter reports of sexual violence on campus and, as such, should understand the legal and cultural context for our institutions’ responses to such reports.

Mobilization